1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for broadcasting alert messages to groups of people within a geographic area.
2. Description of the Related Art
In response to some recent events in which gunmen have been on college campuses, the colleges have put into place a central facility for transmitting text messages to an entire campus body. A problem with this approach is that it necessitates finding out and keeping track of the phone numbers of each telephone near the campus. Another problem with this approach is that it includes no mechanism for contacting people who are merely passing through the area or who are just visiting the area for the day.
What is neither disclosed by nor obvious in view of the prior art is a close proximity broadcast message system that can alert anyone within a several miles of the system of a dangerous situation, or a situation that they may be interested in. What is also neither disclosed by nor obvious in view of the prior art is a system that enables a user to call an alert number such that anyone within a specified distance of the system may receive the message without the system having to know the person's specific phone number. Nor does the prior art disclose or make obvious a system that allows a cellular (or Bluetooth) device to receive broadcast messaging based on a device's proximity to the caller. Further, the prior art does not disclose or make obvious a system that enables a cellular or Bluetooth device to directly transmit to another cellular or Bluetooth device based on proximity global positioning system (GPS) coordinates or Bluetooth radio frequency range for alert communications.